#he will attempt a smooch Always and whether he's successful is usually up to the other member

[jisungshotfirst]

gayvity going as strong as ever

[fatuismooches]

hello, it’s 🍊 anon again. firstly, how have you been? i hope you had a good christmas (if you celebrate it, if not, have this alternative: i hope you’ve had a good december) have a happy new year too!

and secondly, to celebrate new year, imagine dottore and fragile darling celebrating the new year

i just imagine that fragile darling has like this silly little calendar that shows how many years they’ve been together as like a funny thing they have.

darling just has x amount (a lot) of boxes filled with calendars that span back agesssss.

i also imagine that dottore isn’t quite big on the idea of celebrating new year, i mean, he already doesn’t have time for a lot of things besides his research so why would he have time to celebrate what is simply another day for him.

perks if fragile darling asks to see fireworks or do something special on new years too!

Dottore is not someone who cares about the passing of many holidays, the day being the same regular thing for him and the segments. Has two specific Harbingers hassled him in an attempt to get him to join the festivities the Tsaritsa hosts? Yes, but even they have not been very successful... if something is not mandatory, then Il Dottore will be staying locked up in his lab. That was before you woke up of course. You liked celebrating things, whether or not you particularly cared about it, it was just fun to share the excitement and fun with others. And during the Akademiya, you'd always stay up late for the clock to hit 12 AM (well, you were probably usually awake at that anyway. Zandik too of course, so you made it a tradition to make kissing him the first thing you did in the new year).

When you wake up, that's not going to change! You probably don't have enough space for four hundred+ calendars... but they are certainly written down in the first calendar you own since awakening. Ah, you definitely have a lot of mushy dates marked down and circled on your calendars. ("Zandy fell asleep in my lap for the first time!" "Omega took his mask off around me for the first time today." "Zandik took me to see the snow.") It's your own little way of making sure you don't forget all the lovely things in your life.

Anyway, the new year is pretty meaningless to him but you seem to like it, well, more than him at least. Snezhnaya isn't the best place for fireworks, considering how hard the blizzards rage there, but the Tsaritsa is known to quell her storms on the last and first day of the year... so with enough pestering, and threatening your husband that you'll go see the fireworks with Columbina instead (and Tsaritsa forbid Pantalone or Childe...) you're allowed to drag him out and view the fireworks at a nice spot near the lab.

It's not what Dottore was planning, and his time could be better spent right now but... you always tend to smile around this time, even if you haven't been before, so it's alright, he thinks. And maybe, just maybe, he thinks about the times he saw the fireworks in Sumeru with you too.

I KNOW I'M RESPONDING FASHIONABLY LATE AS USUAL... (typical smooches moment) BUT I HOPE YOU HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR AS WELL 🍊 ANON!! I've been well, thank you, I hope you're doing good as well ❤️

[spacegaywritings]

Drunk Kitchen - Chapter 2 “More than Words” (final)

Summary: Emile gets up and takes care of his beloved partners. Remy is hungover and Virgil just loves to snuggle them all. Aka onesie fluff.

Tags: mentions of medication, being hungover, bad mornings, ow ow bodies, nonsexual nudity, being bad at identifying feelings, tears, smol angst for maximum comfort, hurt/comfort, goth remy, pastel Virgil, muscular Emile, migraines, LOTS OF CUDDLES, super much lovs!! happy OT3

The morning eventually rolled around, slowly and surely moving like an overfed house pet. The air was cool yet beautiful with colours and life. The spirit of the weekend was there and the slow-paced wind was in perfect sync with the gradual start into the day. People were done with the week and ready to take things painfully slow and just... relax a bit, live a little and recover from stress and pressure.

Emile was no exception.

He slept in, laying in their bed for much longer than usual and just treating himself to reading a bit. Something in his mind wondered whether he should make up his beloved chaos men but he decided against it in favour of relishing in more silence and granting them a bit more time to recover and consume the sweet relief of sleep.

He eventually got up, his body swinging happily with him as he sung the opening songs of his favourite cartoons shows. His latest favourite of all the literature he possessed inspired him to rewatch Avatar the last airbender again. Maybe he would do that later but first he would order some food and take a looong and nice shower.

After all, the kitchen was unable to provide any place for him to make some pancakes, even if he wanted to. He was honestly horrified at the thought of getting back into that slaughterhouse of dreams and former order. Well, his lovely cryptids deserved some extra sleep so he certainly deserved some take-out food.

The man ordered some breakfast and got into the shower just to get out and dress up in a comfortable onesie for the occasion of a lazy weekend of nothing but self-indulgent care and love for himself and possibly his datemates.

...He would see about that last one.

When Emile poked his head into the living-room, he was just in time for Remy stirring awake, silently and carefully breaking away from their beloved tall bundle of pastel Virgil. The soft giant was sound asleep, chest rising and lowering ever so slowly and gradually while the goth climbed climbed over him, every muscle in his system screaming in pain as he dared to shake his existence to persistently. The movements were so intense and strikingly pain-inducing that he could not help but radiate a great morning energy from anything but a morning person.

The whole room seemed to screech in discomfort as he slid his sunglasses onto the bridge of his nose. Emile greeted him with a little smile as he took the cat tail of his Katra onesie.

“Good Meowning to you!”

The sunshine of Emile welcomed Remy into the world and the small man groaned.

“Ugh.. Oh.. oh holy fuc...”, he mumbled before simply collapsing into his arms.

Emile chuckled, his arms immediately clasping shut around the other.

“Aw, missed me?”, he cooed softly, his head moving to plant a few soothing kisses all over the pained muscles in Remy’s hurting face. Everything was a pain, every little thing was damned in agony for him and it was uncomfortable... a bit like a punishment for anything he did or might do in the future. The slightly taller man gently placed a few open-mouthed smooches onto Remy’s slightly sweaty hair.

“Are you in pain, Ri?”

A groan escaped the other. In the background, the bundle of pastel softness came to life.

Em patted his love.

“Go, get a shower. I will get your pills and something to kill your hangover with”, he promised soft before turning so Virgil could hear him too. “Food is ordered and on the way.”

That got Virgil to react. The tall twig catapulted himself out of the couch, blanket still completing the look of a lost princess disoriented in the middle of a strange world.

“mhw..”

He rubbed his eyes, yawning into his patched-up jacket when the realisation of a new day finally dawned on his internal clock.

Emile giggled, his voice radiating the energy Remy was lacking in his daily pain. He skipped out of the commotion and escaped into the bathroom as suggested. Virgil received the loving morning greeting of the other coming over to peck his sleepy forehead.

“Hello there my little love, did you have fun?”

The tall man pushed himself closer, his body residing in Emile’s patient lap as he pushed his face into his stomach.

“mw”, he argued stubbornly, “missed you..”

Emile pulled him closer, his arms locking around him. It fit like a key into its lock and they neatly got together. He nudged his datemate lovingly, carefully encouraging him to shift and show his face a bit more. The tall man curled in on himself and hugged his love closer and just melt in his lap, letting the heat seep into his pores. The warmth eased him into a small puddle of affection and adoration. His heart was beating in blood and love for Emile and Remy and he carefully wiggled closer in his little blanket burrito and mess of his overly big jacket.

“Awww”, the smaller man cooed soothingly as he brushed through his hair.

“I ordered food for all of us” Emile gently patted his love’s face with tender patience. “Do you want to get ready together with me?”

Virgil nodded into Emile’s lean stomach and hugged him closer, nearly tipping him over and making him collapse over the laying form. Emile swayed a bit, his body staggering from side to side just enough for him to somewhat regain his balance. His hands quickly caught himself on his knees and he leaned further over Virgil, his back arching.

The smaller man giggled. It sounded like ringing bells and jingling joy. Virgil could not help but smile at this. His arms wrung around Emile and gently tugged him down, just a bit, just .. just enough to signify his intention.

He wanted his Emile.. He wanted the man to carry him and just cuddle close to him so he could be in his sleepy haze for a little longer, just for a bit more. The wakeful one nodded sagely, a knowing smile on his genuine lips. His lips were curved into the usual expression of eternal love and unconditional admiration for him.

A nod and another shift and Virgil was moved into his toned arms. The blanket burrito of roses and pastels wiggled and snuggled closer to his love and only allowed himself to rest his case when he was smugly pressed against his love, fitting into his arms as if they were figures made for it, made to be together. The only one missing was Remy, this time.

“Perfect”, Virgil reviewed with a soft little smile on his face. He looked like a smug, tiny bird with all the happiness and little corns in his life. “Great arms, good grip. 12/10, would recommend.”

Emile shook his head.

“Don’t you mean purrfect~”, he started with a sly smile and Virgil was already rolling his eyes with the half-annoyed and half-amused grin plastering all over his features. Emile placed Virgil on their bed and took his cat tail, carefully pointing it at Virgil and retreating it when he showcased the feline trait of his costume.

It aligned with his horrible joke, especially when he actually let out a “meow” at the hungover datemate of his.

“You’ve got to be kidding me-”

Emile threw a bundle of fluff at Virgil, effectively emphasising his response when he spoke up against Virgil, his glasses doing the anime blink thing when he took the golden opportunity that had come to him.

“Do you mean kitten~”

He had the chance, he had the words AND HE TOOK IT! Emile Picani made another pun, made a combo and absolutely destroyed his talking partner from the drunk party. The man got it all, he made a double pun - in close succession! He rocked the field of communication and took the lead in all the puns!

“Are you guys really doing this right now?”

Remy leaned against the door frame, coolly glancing over his two datemates. Finally they were together in one room. As always, their “fourth” partner was with them: Remy’s loyal and faithful shades. The sunglasses rested on his face, covering the most useless part of his bare appearance.

It was such a him thing to just show up without anything but it was also a foolishness on Emile’s part to forget about clothes. Remy would never think that far in the morning. Especially not after a day like yesterday.

Virgil did not seem to mind too much, despite the bright blush adorning his features. He poorly attempted at hiding his face in the piece of clothing Emile just threw him but there was only so much looking he could do without revealing his face to a certain extend. When his fingers brushed against the fabric, his attention was shifted to this sensation rather than staring into their datemate and his.. his whole precious self.

He swallowed.

“Ri, look at you! The shower really did a number on you! You look stunning~”

Emile swayed his hips from side to side, hums accompanying his movements as he worked into the closet further, his hands fishing for something in particular. They had a strive in purpose, they had a mission. Remy scoffed but moved into the room, simply letting his body fall into the softness of their big fat bed. The mattress was the softness of a cloud when kids would imagine touching it and it gently hugged him with welcoming warmth as soon as his body connected to the velvet covers.

He fell with a soft thud, the mattress absorbing the impact of his fall as much as the sounds emitted on any other surface he could have possibly crashed his body into. It was Remy, a tired, decaffeinated Remy at that. Honestly, they were all sort of glad the man was walking and alive instead of just vegetating through life, cuddled up on a couch and pretending to care about the effort people put into this strangely popular activity of “not-dying”.

Virgil immediately took the chance to move his legs over him as he dramatically let himself sink into the mattress with his back. Shifting from side to the back of his body was a true chore, given he only did it to gift Ri with the comfort of his twig-like legs on him.

The man beneath him groaned in response but never even lifted as much as a finger to really put a stop to the whole affair. Other than this, he was contently dozing in his truly vegetative state.

The man was just vibin’.

Not for too long, though, as Emile determined. The last of the trio climbed onto the bed with them and quickly cuddled up next to Virgil, stealing just enough of his partially abandoned blanket to cover himself a bit. A bit of rose was now resting on the back of Remy’s head who simply breathed it off.

He, truly and honestly, had no more fucks to give. Well, other than reaching for his lovely datemates and actually pulling his glorious ass back into the game with his wonderful biceps flexing so deliciously for the two cuddly beans to watch. Virgil dove back under the covers only for Remy to slide underneath them as well and join his partners by pressing his precious chonky self right between the two.

There wqas not space. There was nothing but love and onesies in the bed as the Emile smacked a bit of fabric from his hand into Remy’s lap.

Virgil was still quietly struggling to unwrap the one he had been given before. Considering all the distractions he had to put up with, he was to be excused - by all means. His gay heart and dummy soft baby mind was just too easily molten away and the tender heat coming from his too attractively forbidden and kindly loving datemates had his last braincells yield to the desperate queer screeches of the rainbow cotton mass that filled out the inside of his skull.

There was no brain, only gay. No logic, only gay fucking panic in this house.

Virgil stabbed his fingers into the colourful fabric in his hands. This was a mess of dark colours and abandoned Christmas celebrations. Emile literally gave him a Jack Skellington onesie.

While he was busy blowing raspberries on his tongue to spite Em, he climbed into the oddness of this soft, fluffy mess.He would not complain about this.. it was warm and if anyone every needed to bribe Virgil, heat was about the thing to use in order to tempt him into doing something for them in return. Remy was clever to get him into cuddles before asking him to do chores or get him things.

Aforementioned hungover man accepted his fate and crawled into the pinkass bitch fucking unicorn onesie sitting on his lap.

“Fuck, Em, are you serious”, Remy groaned.

He threw his head back, effectively resting the back of it against the shoulders of his beloved beans. They were both an embarrassing amount taller than his own dummy thicc ass. He was stuck between those lively, bright personalities. What a chore. There was a pink unicorn onesie in his lap.. it was just being there, being pink, doing its thing and just vibin while he closed his eyes and wished for them to somewhat be joking about it. He could not deal with so much positivity and softness in the morning.

It was way too much nice feelings and pink and so much .. ugh. Not to be a bitch to Virgil.

He scoffed again, his sounds trying to communicate his feelings and make the point his mind was too tired and pained to string together using words.

“Come on, Ri, join us~”

Virgil chuckled, his shoulder moving to nudge their datemate ever so softly.

“Imma just pretend to peer pressure you along with Em”

He was finally fully dressed in his own share of soft onesie, though he was nothing compared to a pink fluffy unicorn.

Remy’s eyes fluttered open, his lips rolling together as he pressed them together. They split just for a bit, only enough to allow a few silent grumbles to leave his mouth.

“Will you leave me alone if I get into it?”

Silence.

Emile blinked, puppy dog eyes strong behind his huge glasses. Similarly, the tallest of the throuple poked his fingers into Remy’s sides and snickered just a slightest bit.

Apparently, it was only enough to make the smallest of them sigh dramatically, loudly and tragically. He forcefully sunk his own body deeper into the mattress as if to actively try and disappear into it. After remaining in this position for a while longer, two pairs of eyes softly glancing at him as if to coax him out of his hiding spot, he actually moved his arms to pull the the fabric over his legs and up to his body.

A few moments later, he straightened himself underneath the furry coat and snuggled into the little coffin of soft and velvety feelings.

He sighed.

This was much better than originally anticipated.

He kept laying there, just laid there doing nothing and soaking in the surprising heat that came with wearing this weirdly synthetic fabric around him. His whole body was wrapped up in some kind of plastic polyester tube of pure and utter heat. It felt like hell but in the most comfortable and cozy manner he had every experienced.

Remy cuddled up to his love, a gruff sound rumbling from his throat as he snuggled closer to his loves. His body slowly turned so he could spoon their lovely Emile, simply embracing him. The latter did not mind and gently wrapped his arms and legs around Remy in a similar fashion as Virgil snuggled up to Remy’s side and buried his curiously pink hair in the comforting intimacy of Remy’s neck.

The closeness resulting from this position increased the warmth. Everyone was cozied up in the heat of their own intensely isolated bodies due to the persistently caring onesies.

And Remy was such a pretty unicorn.

“I hate it”, he commented sourly.

Emile pressed a little kiss to his throbbing temples.

“You do nooooot, though”, he corrected him patiently, his voice dipping into the soft sound he usually used whenever he got extremely affectionate with his partners.

They collectively decided to close their eyes. For now, it was time to just be, to just .. exist together and soak up the presence of the others around him.

“You guys are ridiculous”, Virgil butted in with his accurate and absolutely helpful comments.

Remy grunted mutely.

“Vi, Vi, Viiii”, Em exclaimed in sudden excitement. The sudden upsurge of emotions swinging his feelings upwards and skyrocketing him up into the sky. “Virgil, look.”

He inhaled intensely, his lungs sucking up the oxygen around him wetly. Emile placed another soft kiss onto his forehead before whispering to his Virgil, neck craned just enough to very much talk over Remy. Quite literally even so.

“Virgil, he loves us so much, he got all red and adorable!!!”

Virgil giggled.

The words their partner spoke were so excited and stressed, they all could hear the exclamation marks and the emotional extra enforcement of words.

Remy shook his head, stubbornly. His body sank deeper into the mattress as he simultaneously yet uselessly so tried backing up only to dive his back deeper into Virgil’s warm and immensely soft arms. Being sandwiched between the pastel giant and a whole arm of muscular Emile, Remy found himself to be in a spot that could only be described as pure heaven. He was right between one cloud of silky warmth and one equally as velvety blanket-like one.

The tiny chonk of a hurting bitch was relaxing on cloud nine, trapped in the lovely affection that made his stoned heart melt and cave with every word they spoke, if they even spoke. Hell, even simple sounds or looks could send him into a session of gay sighs and intensely queer feelings. His pinkycorn hoe-self snuggled back up between them, finally succumbing to just how much he enjoyed the contact, being flanked by the two equally disastrous tall queers. It was a whole festival of rainbow-colours and intensely soft feelings.

They remained in position for the time being. Everyone relished in the affection they received and gave to each other. This was heaven, this was paradise.

Eternal happiness should be nothing more but hungover cuddles together with the dearest people you had in life.

Despite being a grumpy shit, Remy felt his migraines fade to a somewhat manageable level. Sickness was less of an issue by now and he was dozing off again due to the sheer comfort that led him to believe pain was an illusion. He was floating in the bubble of isolating himself from the outside world. He was up above the troubles of earthly life, of any connections to the physical realm.

Remy was lighter than a feather. He was flying, flying. Up above, sinking slowly, dipping down and landing blindly yet carefully.

When the wings of sleep graced his head and caressed his cheek, he was ready to take a little nap, he braced himself for the comfort and healing effects of a good old powernap in the middle of the day because life sucks and migraines suck even harder but painfully so.

Instead, the fucking doorbell STARTED GOING OFF-

A sudden ring shook them out of their sleepy trance. Virgil flinched into his defensive stance, pulling Remy close to his chest - hell, he would put him into his ribcage if he could. Emile basically vibrated for a moment before also cuddling closer to Remy. Essentially, everyone grabbed a bit of soft unicorn and made sure to protect the endangered species that was a grumpy Remycorn.

Emile was the first to snap out of it, his love for his precious partners quickly melting his frozen state. Within a few minutes, he got onto his feet and quickly made his way across the room, announcing “Food!!!” in a somewhat loud-ish yet rather moderate volume. All things considered, Remy was probably still suffering from a migraine and Emile did not want to make it worse.

Virgil made sure to curl around their smallest datemate while Emile took the social high road and actually interacted with the nice person who delivered food on the weekend. It was noon but they still delivered food!

He was soon back with two whole bags of food. Virgil was not sure but it looked as if they were softly steaming just a slightest bit. Remy certainly could not tell from the point of view of a man who saw the world through the tinted glasses of his protective shades. But when Emile passed by with the food, he did not stop to return to the bedroom, he moved on. He continued walking instead of bringing the food over.

Remy sent Virgil a quizzical look akin to a glare more than anything. A hungover dude just wanted some fucking food and it smelled like a lethal level of spices for his upset stomach and bitchy body. It was absolutely perfect! But now, for some reason, Emile was taking the idea of sustenance away from him and Remy would not tolerate it, so he committed himself to mentally - yes, telepathically, if you want to be brave - converse with Virgil.

Somehow, he needed to convey just how upset he was. One of his datemates was to do his what he was unable to do, physically.

“Virgil, Virgil”, his mind alerted the taller one, “Emile got the food, he took the food and ran off!”

Remy was clearly pouting at this point. The combination of his chronic pain and the aftermath of drinking left him in an emotionally special state, not to speak about his physical vulnerability. Even the smallest amounts of movements could be torture to him, depending on how intense his episodes of migraines were.

Virgil knew. He was patient and considerate as always and nodded, snuggling their datemate close and mumbling silent yet actual words in response.

“ ‘s okay. ‘M can go ‘n get ‘t”, he suggested softly, his voice so soft it could barely be heard. It might have been just above a whisper but considering he was so close to Remy, his back and the tall man’s chest pressed together, it was as if he was speaking for him, into him only.

The smaller man hugged himself when the other started moving away. A great source of heat removed itself from him and it got cold within his body but also outside of it fast. A soft whine escaped his mouth.

... No, that did n o t happen.

“Shut up, Virgil”, he thought at the other who compliantly gave him a kiss to his temples before getting off the bed.

It happened so fast, maybe nothing but a few seconds passed. The world was still spinning for Remy. He never wanted to get up again. At least for the time being, at least for today. His whole world was moving at an incredible speed and it did not stop and everything was so much. Now even his datemates left and there was no food to absorb the absurd amounts of alcohol he had ingested the day before like the dummy thicc thirsty bitch he was.

He felt awful. The world was heavy and sensing it was hurtful and so much of a chore to him, it felt unnaturally exhaustive. Now he was upset. The feeling of somewhat being abandoned struck him, slowly creeping into his skull. He was the small pupper left outside the store for a quick stop but then never to be picked up by their original owners.

Maybe it was just stupid hormones, but he hugged the blanket close to him. It was his little saving grace, his comfort. It did not leave him. It could not even go as far as to think about it because it was a stupid piece of fabric without conscious. He buried his face in the softness, waiting for the comfort of its feeling on his skin to hit him and slay the bad feelings within him.

Remy felt the surge of negativity take over, the devastation within him fizzy like hot chilli burning him from within and hurting him endlessly. It bubbled up, came so close to his heart while he clung to the fabric, his little lifeline of stability. It was all ready to collapse like an old abandoned building, like him.

“Ri?”, a voice asked, soft like an angel.

A hand carefully placed itself right next to him yet did not dare to directly touch him as if he was about to collapse, as if he was so fragile, this little bit of touch would simply destroy him completely.

“Riri, we are back with plates~”

Another voice, more gruff but just as dampened to a comfortable volume. The voices wrapped around his mind and coaxed him into disconnecting his own, damp face from the furry soft blanket.

“Oh, love, does it hurt that much?”

Remy blinked slowly, the sunglasses carefully slipping down his nose from the wetness his tears had caused. Small little droplets of salty rivers drew despair over his features and left sad, lifeless imprints on his face. The shades were trusty and loyal as always, trying to hide the extreme reaction from the others.

His head slowly moved to shake itself in order to indicate disapprovement. Just a moment before he started the movement, he stopped and sat up. Virgil and Remy put the food and others onto the nearby shelf - instead of clothing, it would now hold some meals as well. The two synchronically climbed back into the bed and slid into place by Remy’s sides, Virgil back on his right while Emile joined him from his left side, arms opened.

“ ‘t’s m’kay”, Virgil softly assured, One of his hands brushed through Remy’s hair, barely as much as touching more than the tips of his strands only. The dark bundle was a messy piece of chaos, still a bit damp yet soft and light to the touch.

Emile let his hand add up, his fingers right next to Remy’s face.

“You don’t have to say it. We can be there for you, still. We always will be here if you want to let us in - if you can, love.”

His words softly pressed into his heart. The paws of his intonations gently caressed his chest, massaging into it and easing the tension within him. It was like receiving love from a cat.

Remy shrugged, his nose drawing in a sharp breath.

“F-feelings”, he sniffled.

He took another shaky breath, this time breathing through his mouth to make sure he actually got something other than some half-sniffling attempts at breathing in a miserable amount of oxygen.

Virgil scoffed.

“ Fuck ‘em”, he advised as his hand carefully sunk just a tad deeper into his hair. Rhythmically stroking through the little mess, he patiently hummed, his eyes softly taking in his hidden face.

Emile clicked his tongue. They all knew he did not exactly agree but he sensed the mood enough to not start a lecture at the moment, especially knowing their datemate and his issues well enough.

“What do you want right now? If you know what it is, would you perhaps share it with us, so we can help you?”

The question settled in his face, pulling at his features and straining him further. It pulled the sadness away and his focus back on the issue Emile has brought up. Well, what did he want?

The smaller man inhaled deeply, his eyes closing automatically as he focused. His hands blindly got up, making Virgil retreat his hand out of respect. Remy simply lifted his shades to rub the wetness and salt away from his hot and swollen orbs. They were probably all red like strawberries and puffed up like popped corn.

“Ca-”, he started, his voice leaving him.

He cleared his throat and tried it once more.

“Can we hug..?”

The words were rough like sandpaper and listening sort of hurt in his datemates’ ears and hearts. It was the sort of tickling that got too much, too violent and uncomfortable to the point it sort of hurt because the touch receptors were overloaded and would react in irritation. All in all, he was so quiet, Virgil barely heard him and he was leaned in close enough to smell the scented shampoo used on his hair. It reminded him of energy drinks, ginger and cedar - one of these “manly” scents of hygiene articles.

Nevertheless, his point came across. Whether it was him pushing his shades away to reveal his tortured and upset eyes or his words, maybe even the fact he opened his arms so clearly, he definitely invited the two to snuggled up to him or even tower over him and sandwich him as before. The two took the hint and his datemates were quick to follow suit and fit right by his broad shoulders.

“Dunno, Ri, ya think we can?”, Virgil softly teased. His mumbles flooded his hair roots as he nudged the tip of his nose against his head’s side. These actions reminded him of a cat bonking their had together with the one of the person they wanted to express affection for. It magically brought a little twitch of a smile to his face after all.

Maybe it worked.

He nodded and turned his face to press a little peck to Virgil’s prominent cheekbones.

Emile carefully tugged them back down and tickled his skin with butterfly kisses around his exposed collar bone.

“We will always be here for you”, he repeated ever so gently, “if you just let us know, we will always try and make sure to help you and be here for anything you need.”

A little shake rocked Remy’s body. He willingly sunk down with them and pulled his arms around them to pull his two loves to his chest.

“It hurts sometimes”, he explained, “but it never ceases to beat for you”

Virgil giggled against the beating cavity.

“Sap, you”, another round of chuckles interrupted his silent words, “ya soft, soft sap.”

Emile snuggled closer to him, one of his hands resting on Remy’s stomach while the other one hugged him.

Surprisingly enough, Remy’s body decided to speak for them all. His tummy grumbled subtly. Faint in sound and strong in movement, the datemates felt the sudden surge of vibrations, causing Emile to giggle this time.

“Would you bear with me getting our food from here?”

Remy’s arms loosened their grip on the two. Emile slipped away once more and Virgil pushed a pillow into the smaller individual’s direction to help him get his head up.

“Bitch beast ‘s gon’a be fed”

His statement painted another breeze of amusement over Remy’s face. This time a more persistent smile rested on his features. He took another breath, a free and freer one.

“Vi, this is not how nicknames work, I believe”

He handed him a bowl and cutlery before setting down a bit on the little man in the middle.

“That okay”, he asked carefully, his voice edging on tapping around in the dark. Every step was measured and doubted or calculated at the very least.

Remy nodded and patted his side.

“Come back, you silly bitch”

The inviting smile got Emile to sit down with them once more despite the offensive-sounding words. An approving sound came off him and he awarded his love with a kiss to his nose.

“You two are great. You are just amazing. Em, V, I love you.”

The latter snorted, a part of him looking indignant.

“Ya fuck’n better!”

Remy joined with another giggle, Emile got the heart to do the same.

“I love you too, darling”

The smaller one rolled his eyes before closing them again. He had to pay a price for straining his eyes that much.

Virgil sighed dramatically as he crashed back down into the mattress.

“ ‘kay, fuck. ‘M lovya guys too.”

They cuddled, up, starting to share some food and feeding one another harmonically. Virgil and Remy warmed up to the day and shared stories of their previous adventures along with the food. There was an honourable mention about the Legendary Oil Fight which Emile accepted with many nods and stimming hands. He himself revealed some more information about his experience of the previous night and the three partners enjoyed the contrast between their deeds and feelings which happened at the same time yet were so starkly in differences.

After they had eaten, they snuggled more and soon reverted to a calm state of dozing more than being awake.

“Hey”, Emile verbally nudged them into a more wakeful state. “You know you two will clean the kitchen after you feel better.”

“Ugh, Eeeeem”, Virgil groaned. Remy snickered wildly. “He is such a bad bitch.”

“Listen, you two, next time we go and fight the oil monster together and then we will all clean up the battlefield afterwards.”

Virgil and Remy exchanged a look.

...

“Deal.”

Emile smiled, warmth consuming his heart and he adjusted the blanket and allowed himself to press more against Virgil who was next to him after they had switched places a bit.

“Alright, you wild ones. Deal.” He giggled. “I will drink you under the table and right into the gutter, you weaklings~”

They all giggled, the sounds mingling and intertwining like their cuddly limbs and sensitive hearts. Soon enough, the three were asleep again, only having each other in their minds and on their tongues.

Together, they were just so much ....

Better.

♥

[ketchupfriesandfireguys]

First of all, I love your blog, bless this blog. Anyway, what kind of headcanons do you have for Grillby? One of mine's is that he can speak but it's very difficult to understand if you're not used to it (and Sans being one of those people that easily understands him--)

I love your blog too; your art is fantastic and I always try to put all your Sansby content I can onto this blog~

Firstly, I love your speech headcanon - I like that a lot, and it explains why he has translators in his restaurant, and why Sans seems to perfectly understand him without the need for his translator bird monster sitting at the bar!  It also makes his relationship with Sans real special, which I am ALL for!

I wrote out Grillby’s literal entire backstory here, but if you’re looking for just headcanons, skip to the last bit under the cut!

I’m going to separate this into sections because I love Grillby and spend too much time thinking about him, lol.  But here are all my headcanons!  Enjoy!

EARLY LIFE

Thanks to @sushinfood and his fantastic voice acting clips (which can be found here, at @sushistreams​, if you’re interested!), I share the headcanon that Grillby was not born, but summoned, in order to train up and fight in the war against humanity.  He did start out young, and he was at first extremely reluctant to fight in the war - he spent a lot of time training to fight, but was prone to tiring easily and becoming overwhelmed with the future responsibility to fight in an inevitable war.

In between intense training sessions, Grillby was taught by Gerson (the shopkeep in Waterfall) and King Asgore how to cook, as a method of diverting any fears he had into a constructive - as opposed to a destructive - manner.  And since then, he had always wanted to open a restaurant one day, after the war had passed, to keep up the morale of his comrades and friends, and to help his people (and himself) heal.  He also wore fake glasses at this time because he thought they made him look older and more mature.  (They didn’t.)

THE WAR

Grillby was deeply affected by his time as a soldier in the war.  Before the war, he was very talkative and could even be kind of goofy sometimes, similar to the way Papyrus jokes around in-game at times.  Smart jokes and passing comments that take a moment to digest before you have to turn away and snicker to yourself.  He was quite popular as well, being friends with a wide range of monsters - including but not limited to the king and queen, the royal scientist, and most of his fellow soldiers.

One monster in particular he was extremely close to was Sans’ mother, Arial, who was the previous leader of the Royal Guard.  Through a series of very unfortunate events, she perished in the war before Sans was born, and Gaster, Sans’ birth father, managed to save his newborn son.  (That’s a whole crazy story in itself that makes like -500% sense, but just roll with it for now.)

Losing Arial, the leader and front line general in the war, took its toll on the entire Royal Guard, and monsters were forced to retreat shortly after that, losing over half of their entire population - they retreated under the mountain and were sealed there, and the war concluded.

EARLY UNDERGROUND

Grillby, once underground, realized he could actually pursue his early dreams to open a restaurant - it took him a very long time to scrape up the money to do so, but he managed to get enough help to get a small, shabby bar set up in Snowdin.  (As for why he chose Snowdin of all places, he wanted to bring some warmth to such a cold part of the Underground.)  It was many years before it was actually running, let alone at all a popular hangout.

After this rough and straining transition, Grillby had a sharp shift in personality due to a severely negative morale of monsterkind as a whole, and was quite negative while not in his restaurant.  He dressed less formally, and while not on the clock, would smoke outside his restaurant.  (I like to think this was sort of a punk phase, and he may or may not have owned a motorcycle.  Might’ve styled his flames into a ponytail.  Definitely fought with the Canine Unit of the Royal Guard.)

MEETING SANS

Grillby met Sans during this not-punk-phase, during a smoke break.  He was not very keen on speaking with many other monsters (unless, of course, he was picking a fight, as noted above), and he mainly spoke in sign language after the war.  Sans, also knowing sign language, introduced himself, and quickly set up a tab at the restaurant, immediately getting on Grillby’s nerves.  Sans kept the tab open, even if just by 1G, in an attempt to rather smugly get to know Grillby a little more...intimately.

They started out as a sort of flirty “we’re not dating, what are you talking about” sort of couple.  Many of Grillby’s regulars took bets on whether or not they would ever actually date, and to absolutely no one’s surprise, Sans stood up on his stool after having probably one ketchup bottle too many and leaned over the counter and stole a smooch from the then-absolutely-flustered-bartender.

DATING SANS

They dated for a while during this time, even if the relationship was more physical than emotional at first.  As they began spending more time with each other, though, they learned more about one another - Grillby began to speak with Sans without signing, and Sans learned to listen a little harder.  Grillby grew to be a lot more formal as his restaurant grew much more successful over the years.

The two of them stayed in a steady relationship for a long time, until Sans suddenly stopped showing during the day, and only came at night, to either get handsy with him or to pass out miserably after getting absolutely wasted.  This, as one would expect, did not fly well with Grillby.

Grillby was the one who broke things off with Sans, but it was only after a lot of rather passive aggressive fighting that they actually did anything about their wreck of a relationship.  Sans didn’t take it very well, as he was dealing with resets at this time and was in a pretty deep depressive state, and Grillby was angry for a while - the kind of quiet angry that just sort of burns in your gut with a constant ache.

AFTERMATH

After the resets stopped, and monsters managed to get to the surface and stay there, Grillby was the very first monster to fully integrate with humans, because he (of course) had to open up a new restaurant.  Monster currency was worth a lot of human currency, and he could open up a nicer place than he ever could have dreamed of while in the Underground.  And, of course, Sans was one of his first customers there too.

They were tense at first, but there were eventual apologies, and they became extremely close after they were finally freaking honest with each other, who would’ve thought?  They began dating again after that, and they’re super dumb and flirty and punny with each other today!

MISCELLANEOUS HEADCANONS

Grillby lives not with Sans, but with Fuku - who is simultaneously like a younger sister and like a therapy dog to him.  Though, Grillby does stay over with Sans very often, and vice versa.

Grillby suffers from PTSD from his time serving in the war, and because of this, he is afraid of thunder and lightning.  Whenever it storms, Sans teleports over to his place and helps Grillby through it.

Grillby will do extremely un-Grillby-ish things, but only if he’s alone with Sans.  (Ex - screaming profanity after whacking his shin on something, telling the occasional Extremely Dirty/Inappropriate Joke, ugly laughing at something that really isn’t all that funny, etc.)

No one believes Sans when he says Grillby does these things.  Absolutely nobody.

Grillby is actually his last name!  His first name is Kindle.

He hates it.

Sans teases him about it all the time.

Grillby’s flames get brighter with stronger happy or angry emotions, and more dim with sad or upset emotions.

He used to cry a lot when he was younger, but he has sort of learned to repress emotions as he got older.  Sans hates this, despite doing this same exact thing himself.

Despite this, he does have big emotions sometimes!  Sans is usually not there to witness them, unless they come in the form of a panic attack.

Frisk calls him “Uncle Grillby” and won’t leave until he’s picked them up and given them a hug and held them on his hip for a minute or two.  Frisk has Grillby absolutely wrapped around their little finger.

On that same note, Grillby usually doesn’t particularly love children.  Frisk is a definite exception to that rule.

Grillby does need his glasses to see - it wasn’t from any particular incident or anything, though, he just needed them as he got older.

Grillby doesn’t have any teeth!

Despite being a chef, Grillby does not eat normal foods.  He tends to eat things that would kindle a fire!

He eats herbs during the holidays to make his restaurant smell like cinnamon or nutmeg.

If he is shirtless, you can see his soul through his body!

OKAY I’M DONE THANK YOU FOR READING

[lillotte17]

Valentine

@feynites left some tags on my OC kiss week pic of Aili and Squish, and here we are. Hogwarts smooches go!

Uthvir, Squish, Thenvunin and Pride are all Fey’s

@scurvgirl‘s Serahlin makes brief appearance, as does @justanartsysideblog‘s Cirimeni

It is not until the February of her third year at Hogwarts that Aili starts to notice that some of her classmates are beginning to act…differently. There seems to be a lot of pairing off and hand holding. She and Uthvir still hold hands sometimes, but there also seems to be a lot of kissing going on, which seems like a bit much for best friends. All she knows is that whenever one of these pairs walks by a group of girls, they all erupt into giggles as though the whole thing is part of some big joke no one has clued her in on.

Maybe best friends kiss a lot in the wizarding world? Her mother never mentioned anything about it, but it doesn’t really seem like the sort of thing she would talk about, either. Her mother’s affections are quiet, evenly measured out, like spoonfuls of sugar. Subtle, but deep, like the still waters of a large forest lake. Buttoning up the top of her jacket before she runs out in the rain. Careful fingers smoothing her hair back into place when she comes home after an adventure, mussed and dirty. A dozen little bobbing nightlights floating through the blackness of her bedroom like fireflies, lulling her to sleep, reminding her that she is safe and loved.

Ostentatious displays of affection are more her father’s style, and he is about as magical as a bowl of pea soup.

Then again, it has been a while since her mother was at school, so maybe this is a newer tradition? In that case, the best person to ask is probably Squish. Uthvir knows a lot of stuff, but Desire is definitely more informed when it comes to things like gossip and social trends. Plus, she’d be a little embarrassed to ask Uthvir whether or not she is supposed to be kissing them.  

Luckily, a perfect opportunity sees fit to present itself when she and Squish are leaving their Care of Magical Creatures class to return to the castle (Aili for Runes and Desire for Divination), and see Thenvunin on his way to the greenhouses for Herbology.

Squish snags him in passing, planting a kiss on his cheek before he has the wherewithal to protest about being publicly manhandled in such a fashion. He makes sure to do so afterwards, however. Loudly. All while blushing profusely and hurrying after his fellow fourth years as fast as his crutches will carry him. Desire seems strangely pleased about the whole encounter though. Which Aili finds rather baffling.

“Why does everyone keep doin’ that?” she wonders aloud.

“Doin’ what?” Squish asks right back, evidently not seeing how anything that just transpired might have been confusing. Aili scuffs her shoes in the dirt a little, feeling foolish already.

“Y’know…kissing an’ stuff,” she attempts to clarify, “It seems like everybody’s been doing it all month, but I’m not sure why. Is it a cultural thing for wizards to kiss their friends? Have I been doing it wrong?”

Squish looks at her as though she just told her that she and the Bloody Baron were about to elope to a tropical island and spend the rest of their lives together raising baby unicorns. Amazed, but also unmistakably concerned for her sanity.

“It’s ‘cause of Valentine’s Day, silly!” Squish declares, “You know, the day all about True Love and Cupid and hearts and stuff!”

“Oh, right,” Aili nods, brow furrowing slightly as she takes in this nugget of information. Valentine’s is about reminding people that you love them, she knew about that. Her father used to make heart-shaped cookies, and her mother cooked a nice meal and that was about it, as far as celebrations went at her house when she was growing up. It never seemed like a big deal. Besides, “I thought everybody just gave cards to their friends for Valentine’s Day? And maybe candy or something. Isn’t that what we did last year?”

“That’s just for the little kids,” Desire insists imperiously. “We’re teenagers now! You saw everyone kissing because that is what Valentine’s is about when you’re older; kissing people you like!”

Aili gulps thickly, heat rising in her face as she contemplates the task now set before her. She likes…a lot of people. She thinks of the neat little pile of handmade cards sitting on her desk in the Gryffindor girl’s dormitory, waiting to be delivered. She wonders if her friends would mind if she gave them out anyway, in lieu of kissing them. But then, they might all think that she doesn’t really like them if she doesn’t kiss them, and she doesn’t want that. She heaves a sigh.

“So, I’m supposed to do all the kissing on Valentine’s Day?” she wonders. That could get tricky, she doesn’t always see all of her friends in one day. A lot of them are in different houses, with different class schedules than hers. And, as far as she knows, you can’t send a kiss via owl.

“Of course not!” Squish laughs, “It’d be silly to restrict kissing to just one day, but you gotta make sure that you kiss that special someone on Valentine’s Day, otherwise they won’t know how you feel!”

“Special someone?” Aili blinks, confused again.

“You know, the person you like best,” Desire explains with a toothy grin, clearly delighted at the prospect.

Aili considers these new rules carefully. This whole thing is much more complicated than she thought. She wonders if she would have known about all of this if she had grown up around more kids instead of out in the countryside. Squish seems to think that this is all common knowledge, so her education must be lacking on some front or another.

Still, she knows about it now, and she has about a week left to kiss all the people she likes before Valentine’s Day. She supposes Uthvir’s kiss is going to be last, since they are her best friend, and undoubtedly the person she likes the most. That probably explains why they haven’t kissed her yet, either.

…This whole thing seems like a headache.

Finally back inside the castle and a few feet away from the corridor where they must go their separate ways for their next classes, Aili decides that there is no time like the present to begin the task of passing out the mandatory kisses. Eyes screwed shut and face burning, she quickly darts in to plant a kiss on Squish’s cheek before wheeling away and barreling down the hallway. She doesn’t even pause to see her friend’s reaction. She doesn’t really think Squish will be mad, especially not when she was the one who just explained all the Valentine’s rules to her, but still…

Her heart is hammering in her chest. She feels a bit faint, dizzy with adrenaline and a slight rush of fear. She almost walks into the wrong classroom by mistake, to the great confusion and amusement of the fifth years inside.

How is she supposed to survive an entire week of this? ~ To her great surprise, things turn out…better than she had expected.

She manages to catch Cirimeni in the library while they are studying together. She looks confused after the kiss, but Aili doesn’t know how to sign even half of the weird rules that Squish told her, so she simply explains, ‘Because we’re friends.’ To which she gets a smile and a shrug and the hand motions for ‘okay?’

Aili snags Serahlin on the way out of Potions, kissing her mostly on the ear, before being playfully shoved away. She is then informed that she is incredibly silly before the Slytherin girl rushes off after her classmates, giggling madly all the while. She gets a few weird looks from other people for that one, though she doesn’t know why.

Apparently, most of her friends are accustomed to her being rather tactile with her affections, so the worst reaction she gets is when they seem to be a bit flustered by her planting a kiss on them, but at least no one seems mad.

Though…none of them kiss her back. But she tries not to put too much stock into it. No use in worrying about potentially bruised feelings until the holiday is over. She is pretty sure she would know if any of her friends were upset with her.

Although, of all people, Uthvir has been acting strangely out of sorts lately. But that can’t be her fault, because she hasn’t even kissed them yet.

She doesn’t really start noticing it until the week is almost over and she’s giving Thenvunin his kiss while they’re all together at dinner. It takes a bit of doing, since she has to stand on one of the long benches just to get anywhere near his face. As expected, he makes a huge fuss over it, flapping about like an enraged waterfowl, blushing and sputtering all the while. There is a lot of commentary about impropriety, and younger students knowing their place, and complaining about the crass nature of Gryffindors. But when she apologizes, he only sniffs at her and tells her that he supposes it is alright. Just this once.

Across the table, Uthvir is glaring as though they are trying to figure out how to light stuff on fire with their mind. She knows because she’s seen them try it before. Sadly, without much success, though that might be a good thing for Thenvunin’s hair, if the direction of their gaze is any indication.

The fourth year in question makes a loud declaration about going back to the Slytherin table before someone else tries to accost him, though he appears a bit disappointed when Squish only reaches out to squeeze his fingers in passing.

Uthvir seems to visibly relax once he leaves, however, which is odd. They almost never take issue with Thenvunin, even when he’s being a jerk.

“Are you mad about something?” Aili wonders. There are at least three kinds of dessert on the table that Uthvir likes and, for once, Professor Andruil didn’t hand them a huge essay to do over the weekend, so she can’t imagine what could be upsetting them.

“…no,” they answer tightly after a few moments of silence, adjusting their huge scarf so that it covers even more of their face than usual. “Why’d you do that, anyway? Aren’t you two always fighting or something?”

“It’s almost Valentine’s,” she shrugs, “He might get on my nerves sometimes, but I like Thenvunin.”

“You do not!” Uthvir counters.

“Of course, I do!” Aili returns, puzzled by their sudden mulishness.

Uthvir scowls.

Desire’s eyes dart between the pair of them, quickly assessing the situation and then grinning broadly. A cat who got into the cream.

“I think Uthvir has been spending time with the green-eyed monster,” she giggles.    

“Is that mentioned somewhere in our Care of Magical Creatures book?” Aili asks, “I don’t remember it…where does it live?”

“It isn’t a real monster, Squish is just makin’ stuff up ‘cause she thinks she’s funny,” Uthvir narrows their eyes at her pointedly, “She isn’t.”

“I think Squish is pretty funny,” Aili offers, though she doesn’t quite get the joke. She catches sight of Pride as he is getting up from the Ravenclaw table and hastily makes to vacate her own seat. “Listen, I’ve gotta go take care of something real quick, but maybe we can meet up later. At the usual place?”

“…I guess,” Uthvir grates out, following her gaze.

Aili smiles and waves and bustles off, just as blithely clueless as before.

“I’m going to go out on a limb, and guess that Aili has somehow gotten confused about Valentine’s Day,” Squish says, unrepentant and clearly amused.

“…maybe,” Uthvir grumbles into their scarf, their mood souring further as they catch sight of Aili tugging Pride down so she can kiss him on the cheek.

“Does this have anything to do with half the third years getting pranked this week?” she wonders.

Uthvir stabs their meatloaf peevishly in reply. ~ Later that night, Aili is waiting for Uthvir at the top of the Astronomy Tower. It’s the highest place in the castle, with an excellent view of the grounds, and it’s also their favorite place to sneak off to after curfew. The place almost feels like a secret hideout, or a huge bird’s nest, and hardly anyone ever comes there, even doing rounds checking for students out of bed.

It’s a bit cold outside, but she has her cloak, and the crisp air seems to make the stars shine brighter somehow. So, she doesn’t mind that Uthvir is a bit late. Even if they usually get here before her.

…She hopes they aren’t really mad at her.

Aili brought the valentine she made for them with her, just in case. There are still a few hours left before it is officially the right day, but maybe between the kiss and the card, Uthvir will feel like cheering up a bit. She doesn’t think they’d mind too much about her bending the rules a little. They usually don’t.

“Were you waiting a long time?” Uthvir wonders when they finally arrive, quietly closing the door to the castle behind them and coming to sit beside her along the edge of the balcony.

“Not too long,” she promises, though her teeth chatter a little as she answers them.

Uthvir sighs and scoots closer to her, wrapping part of their scarf around her neck to help warm her up.

“Thanks,” she smiles softly, fingering the card in her hands.

“Sure,” Uthvir replies with a shrug, not quite meeting her eyes.

“Did you get caught sneaking out or something?” Aili asks, “I’m usually the late one."

“I just had to…deliver something,” they hedge.

“A Valentine’s gift?”

“…something like that.”

There is an awkward silence between them for a moment as Aili tries to muster the courage to just lean over and kiss them. There isn’t much of an easy escape route from this situation if it makes things weird. She is more or less tied to them at the neck for the time being.

“So…you like Pride, too?” Uthvir asks suddenly. Aili blinks, caught off guard at the strange choice of topic.

“What’s not to like?” she replies, arching a brow at them, “Pride is nice, and I like a lot of people.”

“And…that’s why you were kissin’ everybody?” they ask, “Because you like them?”

“Well, yeah!” she grins at them, tilting her head in inquiry, “Squish said that you’re supposed to kiss people you like to celebrate Valentine’s Day. I mean, I’d never heard that rule, but it seemed like there was a lot of kissing going on, so…”

“You mean…you were kissing all the people you like…an’ you didn’t kiss me?” their voice fades to a quiet mumble, nearly lost in the voluminous folds of their scarf.

“No, no, it’s not like that!” Aili insists, grabbing their hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze, “Squish said that you can kiss the other people you like whenever, but you have to make sure that the person you like best gets kissed on Valentine’s Day. And you’re my best friend, and it wasn’t the right day yet, so…um. I was…waiting.”

“…I’m pretty sure that Squish meant that you were supposed to kiss people you like romantically,” Uthvir sighs in mild exasperation, though they do appear to be somewhat relieved. “You know, like…someone you want to date an’ stuff.”

The expression on Aili’s face flashes through several emotions at remarkable speed. From shocked to angry to slightly ill, at least eight in under ten seconds, which is possibly some sort of world record. She seems to settle somewhere in the realm of mortification, though, in the end, the bright flush of her cheeks visible even in dim starlight surrounding them.

And then, for some unfathomable reason, she begins to cry.

“H-hey, don’t be sad,” Uthvir hastily attempts to soothe her, rubbing her back and trying not to panic, “I wasn’t tryin’a be mean. S’okay that you kissed people you like. Really. I’m not mad, promise.”

“I-I thought…” she tries to choke out between sniffles, “I thought t-that maybe the reason I wasn’t gettin’ any kisses back…was b-because nobody really likes me.” She sobs openly at the admission, “I thought I d-didn’t have any friends.”

Uthvir stares at her for a moment, eyebrows raised in surprise as their best friend continues to weep loudly into their scarf. When the waterworks show no immediate signs of stopping, they heave a sigh. Defeated in the face of Aili’s distress.

Then they lean over and plant a very decisive kiss on Aili’s cheek.

She gasps, shocked out of her sudden bout of tears, blinking over at them with damp eyes. Uthvir grins at her, taking hold of her hand again and squeezing. Startled is much better than sad.

“Don’t be silly,” they chide, “Of course you’ve got friends. And you’ve got me. An’ I’d like you even if none of those other people did. I wouldn’t care. That’d just mean all of ‘em were dumb. I’d still like you best. Best friends. For always.”

Aili offers them a wet laugh, leaning over to press her forehead against theirs, grinning from ear to ear.

“I like you best, too,” she assures them, “For always and a day.”